UCaaS, or unified communications as a service, software serves as a communication and collaboration hub for organizations. These tools provide features such as VoIP, instant messaging, video conferencing, and other collaboration tools in a singular, cloud-based platform. UCaaS platforms can connect entire enterprise businesses, facilitating rapid, streamlined communication and decision-making with varying functionality offered in one product. While the U in UCaaS stands for unified, not universal, the goal of these platforms is to bring all corporate person-to-person communication methods under one umbrella.
UCaaS products offer features provided by collaborative point solutions such as VoIP software, video conferencing software, internal communications software, and other team collaboration software types. While businesses could purchase each one of these solutions separately, a UCaaS platform can potentially supply the features of them all in a more malleable package. The integrated nature of these platforms enables users to monitor and receive alerts via one medium.
While UCaaS products provide extensive functionality themselves, many will integrate with outside content management systems or contact center software depending on the specific use case of the organization in question. However, it is extremely uncommon for UCaaS to provide discrete email capabilities, and typically leverages whatever email system the business uses to handle messaging and coordination in that channel.
To qualify for inclusion in the UCaaS category, a product must:
- Be a cloud-based collaboration and communication platform
- Supply VoIP, video conferencing, business messaging, and file sharing
- Provide cross-channel functionality
- Offer additional collaboration and communication tools natively
- Be flexible enough to incorporate new communication channels as they are developed
